Christmas "All-a-day"

I know it's the middle of January and I am just now getting caught up on Christmas. That's just the way I roll. We had such a great time in Houston with hubby's side of the family! In fact, a new holiday was born....or better named "All-a-day". What in the world is that? Just like the name suggests, it's all the holidays of the year rolled into one, fun-filled, crazy day. First, we had an Easter egg hunt...

I think Brennan is still hunting, so he's not in the photo.
The little darling on the right is my niece Tabitha.

I could go on and on about her,
but I will save that for another post coming soon.

Is your arm getting a little tired Gav?
That's quite the haul, buddy.

Brennan's entire face would light up when he found an egg.

Opening the loot is just as much fun!

See what I mean? Couldn't you just kiss those cheeks off?

Or these cheeks, too?

Connor wanted to take us all for a tractor ride,
but that's George Washington's job. (aka Grandpa)

It was a great day...an Easter Egg Hunt,
dressing up for Halloween, an old-fashioned hayride,
and decorating (and eating large quantities of) Christmas cookies.

Christmas morning never gets old.
Especially when worn on the face of a toddler.

Hover-copters, air-pellet guns, night-vision goggles! Oh my!

Antique Legos passed down from Gavin's 3 uncles and daddy.
I think Gavin has reached kid nirvana.
(And no, we will not sell them to you on Ebay).

Mario cart, anyone?
Brennan just drives around in circles, but it's still fun.
Connor, on the other hand, takes his game very seriously...
complete with realistic crash sound effects.

Yep, Christmas was a blast. My kids are still talking about it,
and that's pretty rare considering my kids have an attention
span of 15 minutes. It will be fondly remembered for years to come.

My Baby Is Growing Up

For all of you who have kids (human or fur-covered), I am sure you can relate to the first haircut you ever give your baby. Suddenly they aren't as pudgy, or curly, or baby-looking. They look like a much bigger boy/girl. My baby boy Beckett went to the groomers and got a trim today, and I am sad that his baby fur around his face is gone. He suddenly looks all grown up. I am glad he can actually SEE something in front of him now, but I miss the scrappy Mohawk between his eyes. They grow up so fast.




And here's an interesting side-note....
I have a sort of embarrassing question. What is "cleaning the anal glands" ?! Sounds painful. Poor puppy got a bum shave, so that the other dogs won't point and laugh at the dingle-berries.

Meet Beckett

We had a great time in Houston visiting the Mathis side of the family over the Christmas holiday. We even brought home a little souvenir! Meet Beckett, the wonder dog. Isn't he the sweetest thing you've ever seen? Everyone say, "Awwwww"...


Once upon a time, I didn't like dogs. Even the thought of owning a dog made me shiver in fear and break out in hives. Why? Well, growing up we didn't have very good experiences owning dogs in our house. Pooper was eaten by our cousins' neighbor's Rottweiler, Penny was psycho and ate a bunch of Styrofoam out of her dog house and then ran away, Lucky was destructive and peed on everyone when he got excited, and Baby was hit by a car, I think... anyway, you get the picture. Not that our family didn't try, I just think we didn't train very well. (And a good dog requires lots and lots of training, love, and patience as I am quickly finding out).

This is Mags....
or Margaret Sheridan Mathis if you want to be proper.

She comes from a long line of Show-Dog Champions. She is a pure-bred Norfolk Terrier as are her 4 puppies...all boys. The father of the pups is named Bandit, and he too comes from Championship dogs. He looks a lot like Mags, but has a rusty-red coat instead of the sandy-blonde. I have already posted about what an awesome dog Mags is. I think that's the main reason I decided to give in and adopt one of her puppies. As soon as I saw the little rascals, there was a connection with Beckett. He was sweet, not hyper, didn't bark much, and took to Gavin right away. He was already crate-trained and almost potty-trained. (We are still working on that, but he rarely has an accident). Although this puppy is a lot of work now, I know it'll pay off in the end and we will have a fantastic family dog who will be loved and cherished more than he already is.

Want to see all the boys? Here they are in order from left to right:

Cooper, Barney (not facing camera), Beckett, and Kendall.
Cooper is a fur ball full of energy... lots & LOTS of energy!
Barney is very brave, and likes to bark at bigger dogs.
Beckett is a little shy, but sweet, loving, and playful.
Kendall is the most social, and is always happy to see you.

I cannot thank Janie enough for our new bundle of fun. I have really bonded with him, and I know the kids have too. So, for the first time I can proudly say I am a "dog person"!

P.S. I will post pics of Christmas soon.